CHUCK COOK / THE TIMES-PICAYUNESt. Tammany Animal Control officer Tess Boudreau tries to control a wild dog that was part of a pack roaming the streets of Covington Tuesday, March 17, 2009. The dogs killed two pet rabbits at a home on South Jahncke Street.

Authorities in Covington are on the lookout for a band of suspects. Five four-legged suspects, to be exact.

A pack of six dogs was spotted roaming the downtown streets Monday night, and overnight they killed a pair of rabbits being kept as pets by a family on Jahncke Avenue, parish government spokeswoman Suzanne Parsons Stymiest said.

The dogs apparently broke into the raised rabbit pen by lifting part of its wire enclosure. Once inside, they mauled and killed the rabbits, named Sugar and Snowflake, before leaving.

Police officers and members of the parish's Animal Services Department tried to corner the dogs Tuesday morning with the help of some neighbors, but could only collar one before the rest fled. Traps have been set out for the other dogs, which all appear to be mutts, Stymiest said.

"Until we catch them, we don't know if they're feral, if they're dogs from the area that are loose, " Stymiest said.

Where the pack of dogs came from was unclear, and the one that was caught did not have tags or a collar, she said. Whether they are a danger to residents also was unclear, she said.

It's not uncommon for dogs to get loose in Covington, and police have had to respond in several cases in which escaped pit bulls have caused havoc in the city, Covington police spokesman Capt. Jack West said. Typically, however, these cases do not involve groups larger than two or three dogs, West said.

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Jeff Adelson can be reached at jadelson@timespicayune.com or 985.645.2852.